* These lessons support literacy goals. The lessons are brain based and often encourage students to move through music or be physically active. The lessons can be easily integrated into curriculum content and although they are developed for ‘younger students’, the lessons are easily adaptable to other age levels.

Lesson Summary: Readers Theater is the reading of a text in a play-like fashion. This lesson includes 2 scripts. The first script is geared towards pre-readers. The teacher reads the portion of the script that moves the story, and students respond with a refrain or simple lines that are repetitive and easy to learn. The second script is for written for first and second grade students. Although props and costumes can be involved in an elaborate Readers Theater, most involve the children simply reading the text with good fluency. By performing a Readers Theater, students are given an excellent reason to read, reread, and reread a text.

Lesson Summary: After reading Polar Bearsby Gail Gibbons students will complete an ABC or 123 dot-to-dot of a polar bear. The teacher will read the Polar Bear Fact sheet and students will point to the corresponding physical feature on their completed dot-to-dot polar bear. After all the facts have been read, students watch the National Geographic Video. The teacher then introduces the polar bear song to the children.

Lesson Summary: During the study of Alaska’s Arctic animals and where they live students will be able to tell the teacher one cold fact about each animal. A cold fact is anything that tells how these animals survive in such a harsh environment. Two facts, for example, that help the willow ptarmigan survive are that he turns white in the winter (his camouflage) and that he grows extra feathers in the winter, even on his feet (for warmth). This information is reviewed and reinforced by playing the Arctic Animal Memory Game and Arctic Animal Bingo.

Lesson Summary: After conducting the toothpick experiment and reading Gone Again Ptarmigan, students will see in this art activity how important camouflage is to Alaska’s state bird, the willow ptarmigan and other Arctic animals. (Other Arctic animals that change their coats or feathers with the season are the Arctic fox, the short-tailed weasel (known as ermine in their winter coats),the snowy owl, and the snowshoe hare. Polar bears keep their camouflage all year long!)

Lesson Summary: Students demonstrate understanding of an area that you are emphasizing in your instruction by circling or underlining on the “Five Little Huskies.” handout. For example, students can circle all the capital letters in the poem.

Lesson Summary: Students will learn strategies to decode the word “Iditarod.” They will identify all letters by name and sound, place the letters in the correct order and orally read “Iditarod” as a sight word.

Grade level: Pre- Kindergarten and beyond Lesson summary:Students will observe Jon Van Zyle’s Iditarod art as well as some of his other work showing the beauty of Alaska. They will learn a song about Jon and then draw their own Mush! Art following a step-by-step format.

Lesson Summary:Students will learn the location of Alaska on the globe and on a map, name bodies of water and countries to the north, south, east, and west of Alaska and learn one or two facts about the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, Canada, and Russia